At the International Air Transport Association (IATA) annual meeting on Monday, Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce said his company planned to comply with the request, although they needed extra time.

“Our intention is to meet the requirements. It is just taking time to get there,” Mr Joyce told journalists on the sidelines of the meeting.

Beijing considers self-ruling Taiwan to be part of its territory and the move to change the website means Qantas will echo Australia’s official position on Taiwan.

According to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade website, “the Australian Government does not recognise the ROC as a sovereign state and does not regard the authorities in Taiwan as having the status of a national government.”

Ms Adamson told a Senate committee that the Federal Government was “strongly opposed” to Beijing’s tactics.

“I just want to be clear that while we may express views in a variety of ways — sometimes very publicly, sometimes behind the scenes — the Government cannot be in a position to tolerate the exercise of economic coercion,” Ms Adamson said.

The chief executive of Qantas’s international unit, Alison Webster, said the decision was not influenced by Qantas’s partnership with China Eastern Airlines Corp.